Israel is the lone country with Jewish symbols on its national flag, including the Star of David and a white and blue striped background representative of a traditional Jewish prayer shawl. And in India, the blue chakra at the center of the flag holds symbolic meaning for both Hindus and Buddhists. The Cambodian flag depicts Angkor Wat, a temple historically associated with both Hinduism and Buddhism, while in Nepal, the flag features both Buddhist and Hindu symbols to represent the two predominant religious groups in the country. The crescent moon “represents a young nation on the ascendant, and the five stars depict Singapore’s ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality,” according to the Singapore government.īuddhist or Hindu religious symbols appear on five national flags in three of those cases, the symbols apply to both religions. Algeria, Turkey, Brunei and Uzbekistan are some of the many countries that include an Islamic star and crescent on their national flag.Īlthough Singapore has a crescent and stars on its flag, they do not have religious significance. In Bahrain, the national flag features five white triangles, symbolizing the Five Pillars of Islam. Islamic symbols are found on the flags of 21 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East and North Africa. Spain, Greece, Norway and the Dominican Republic are among the other countries with Christian national symbols.

Some Commonwealth countries continue to incorporate the Union Jack as a part of their own flags, including Fiji, Tuvalu, Australia and New Zealand. The United Kingdom’s “Union Jack,” for example, includes the crosses of St. Of the 64 countries in this category, about half have Christian symbols (48%) and about a third include Islamic religious symbols (33%), with imagery on flags from the world’s two largest religious groups appearing across several regions.Ĭhristian symbols are found on 31 national flags from Europe, Asia and the Pacific and the Americas. More information on the Symbolism of the American Flag can be found here.A third of the world’s 196 countries currently have national flags that include religious symbols, according to a new Pew Research analysis. 'The colors of the pales (the vertical stripes) are those used in the flag of the United States of America White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valor, and Blue, the color of the Chief (the broad band above the stripes) signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice.' Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, reporting to Congress on the Seal, stated: However, the colors in the Great Seal of the United States did have specific meanings. Originally, the colors red, white and blue had neither specific meaning nor representation when the flag was adopted in 1777. 'The star is a symbol of the heavens and the divine goal to which man has aspired from time immemorial the stripe is symbolic of the rays of light emanating from the sun.'Īlternating in red and white, the 13 stripes also represent the 13 original colonies that joined together to declare their independence from Britain in order to establish themselves as a sovereign nation. Found from a book about the symbolism of the American Flag published in 1977 by the House of Representatives we read: This number has followed the growth of the united-states since its infancy.

Beginning with 13, the now 50 stars displayed in the canton of the flag represent the current number of states in the union. The Symbolism of the American Flag is of revolutionary significance.

Flag white blue red stripes